Classifications

• • C—CHEMISTRY; METALLURGY
  • C08—ORGANIC MACROMOLECULAR COMPOUNDS; THEIR PREPARATION OR CHEMICAL WORKING-UP; COMPOSITIONS BASED THEREON
  • C08F—MACROMOLECULAR COMPOUNDS OBTAINED BY REACTIONS ONLY INVOLVING CARBON-TO-CARBON UNSATURATED BONDS
  • C08F10/00—Homopolymers and copolymers of unsaturated aliphatic hydrocarbons having only one carbon-to-carbon double bond
• • C—CHEMISTRY; METALLURGY
  • C07—ORGANIC CHEMISTRY
  • C07F—ACYCLIC, CARBOCYCLIC OR HETEROCYCLIC COMPOUNDS CONTAINING ELEMENTS OTHER THAN CARBON, HYDROGEN, HALOGEN, OXYGEN, NITROGEN, SULFUR, SELENIUM OR TELLURIUM
  • C07F17/00—Metallocenes
• • C—CHEMISTRY; METALLURGY
  • C08—ORGANIC MACROMOLECULAR COMPOUNDS; THEIR PREPARATION OR CHEMICAL WORKING-UP; COMPOSITIONS BASED THEREON
  • C08F—MACROMOLECULAR COMPOUNDS OBTAINED BY REACTIONS ONLY INVOLVING CARBON-TO-CARBON UNSATURATED BONDS
  • C08F210/00—Copolymers of unsaturated aliphatic hydrocarbons having only one carbon-to-carbon double bond
  • C08F210/16—Copolymers of ethene with alpha-alkenes, e.g. EP rubbers
• • C—CHEMISTRY; METALLURGY
  • C08—ORGANIC MACROMOLECULAR COMPOUNDS; THEIR PREPARATION OR CHEMICAL WORKING-UP; COMPOSITIONS BASED THEREON
  • C08F—MACROMOLECULAR COMPOUNDS OBTAINED BY REACTIONS ONLY INVOLVING CARBON-TO-CARBON UNSATURATED BONDS
  • C08F2420/00—Metallocene catalysts
  • C08F2420/04—Cp or analog not bridged to a non-Cp X ancillary anionic donor
• • C—CHEMISTRY; METALLURGY
  • C08—ORGANIC MACROMOLECULAR COMPOUNDS; THEIR PREPARATION OR CHEMICAL WORKING-UP; COMPOSITIONS BASED THEREON
  • C08F—MACROMOLECULAR COMPOUNDS OBTAINED BY REACTIONS ONLY INVOLVING CARBON-TO-CARBON UNSATURATED BONDS
  • C08F4/00—Polymerisation catalysts
  • C08F4/42—Metals; Metal hydrides; Metallo-organic compounds; Use thereof as catalyst precursors
  • C08F4/44—Metals; Metal hydrides; Metallo-organic compounds; Use thereof as catalyst precursors selected from light metals, zinc, cadmium, mercury, copper, silver, gold, boron, gallium, indium, thallium, rare earths or actinides
  • C08F4/60—Metals; Metal hydrides; Metallo-organic compounds; Use thereof as catalyst precursors selected from light metals, zinc, cadmium, mercury, copper, silver, gold, boron, gallium, indium, thallium, rare earths or actinides together with refractory metals, iron group metals, platinum group metals, manganese, rhenium technetium or compounds thereof
  • C08F4/62—Refractory metals or compounds thereof
  • C08F4/64—Titanium, zirconium, hafnium or compounds thereof
  • C08F4/659—Component covered by group C08F4/64 containing a transition metal-carbon bond
  • C08F4/65908—Component covered by group C08F4/64 containing a transition metal-carbon bond in combination with an ionising compound other than alumoxane, e.g. (C6F5)4B-X+
• • C—CHEMISTRY; METALLURGY
  • C08—ORGANIC MACROMOLECULAR COMPOUNDS; THEIR PREPARATION OR CHEMICAL WORKING-UP; COMPOSITIONS BASED THEREON
  • C08F—MACROMOLECULAR COMPOUNDS OBTAINED BY REACTIONS ONLY INVOLVING CARBON-TO-CARBON UNSATURATED BONDS
  • C08F4/00—Polymerisation catalysts
  • C08F4/42—Metals; Metal hydrides; Metallo-organic compounds; Use thereof as catalyst precursors
  • C08F4/44—Metals; Metal hydrides; Metallo-organic compounds; Use thereof as catalyst precursors selected from light metals, zinc, cadmium, mercury, copper, silver, gold, boron, gallium, indium, thallium, rare earths or actinides
  • C08F4/60—Metals; Metal hydrides; Metallo-organic compounds; Use thereof as catalyst precursors selected from light metals, zinc, cadmium, mercury, copper, silver, gold, boron, gallium, indium, thallium, rare earths or actinides together with refractory metals, iron group metals, platinum group metals, manganese, rhenium technetium or compounds thereof
  • C08F4/62—Refractory metals or compounds thereof
  • C08F4/64—Titanium, zirconium, hafnium or compounds thereof
  • C08F4/659—Component covered by group C08F4/64 containing a transition metal-carbon bond
  • C08F4/65912—Component covered by group C08F4/64 containing a transition metal-carbon bond in combination with an organoaluminium compound
• • Y—GENERAL TAGGING OF NEW TECHNOLOGICAL DEVELOPMENTS; GENERAL TAGGING OF CROSS-SECTIONAL TECHNOLOGIES SPANNING OVER SEVERAL SECTIONS OF THE IPC; TECHNICAL SUBJECTS COVERED BY FORMER USPC CROSS-REFERENCE ART COLLECTIONS [XRACs] AND DIGESTS
  • Y10—TECHNICAL SUBJECTS COVERED BY FORMER USPC
  • Y10S—TECHNICAL SUBJECTS COVERED BY FORMER USPC CROSS-REFERENCE ART COLLECTIONS [XRACs] AND DIGESTS
  • Y10S526/00—Synthetic resins or natural rubbers -- part of the class 520 series
  • Y10S526/943—Polymerization with metallocene catalysts

Definitions

• the invention relates to a catalyst component and a catalyst system for the polymerization of an ⁇ -olefin, which catalyst component comprises a compound of formula CyLMZ p , wherein
• Japanese patent application JP6080683 describes unbridged monocyclopentadienyl group 4-6 metal compounds, which are said to provide benefits for propylene polymerization, and exemplifies the production of atactic polypropylene with cyclopentadienyl bistrimethylsilylamide titanium dichloride, activated with methylalumoxane at 40° C.
• U.S. Pat. No. 5,625,016 discloses catalyst systems based on an unbridged monocyclopentadienyl group 4 metal compound having a bulky group 15 ligand, which is suitable for the preparation of ethylene- ⁇ -olefin copolymers of high molecular weight at high temperatures in solution, with ready incorporation of ⁇ -olefins.
• Examples of ethylene-propylene copolymerization at 115° C. with cyclopentadienyl bis-trimethylsilylamide titanium dimethyl/dimethylanilinium tetra(perfluorophenyl)borate show polymers with up to 30% by weight propylene incorporation, but in a low yield.
• U.S. Pat. No. 6,063,879 describes a class of (unbridged) monocyclopentadienyl group 4 metal phosphinimides. Such complexes are suitable for ethylene homo and ethylene- ⁇ -olefin copolymerization by solution or gasphase polymerization at high temperature.
• U.S. Pat. No. 6,114,481 which represents the most relevant prior art document, discloses a class of group 4 methyl compounds having a ketimide ligand as catalyst component for the preparation of polymers of high molecular weight and low density. More specifically the catalyst comprises a metallocene compound of formula CyLMZ 2 , wherein M is a group 4 metal, L is a ketimide ligand, (a ketimide group is a group having formula —N ⁇ C ⁇ ), Cy is a cyclic ligand, having a delocalized ⁇ -bond with the group 4 metal, such as a cyclopentadienyl group, and two activation reactive ligands Z.
• M is a group 4 metal
• L is a ketimide ligand
• Cy is a cyclic ligand, having a delocalized ⁇ -bond with the group 4 metal, such as a cyclopentadienyl group, and two activation reactive ligands Z.
• the ketimide ligand L of this known compound contains two bulky carbyl substituents: wherein Sub 1 and Sub 2 are preferably tert.butyl groups.
• Ketimide titanium complexes were already prepared by Latham et al., (J. Chem. Soc., Dalton Trans. 1986, 377), but not tested in an olefin polymerization process.
• the present invention provides an improved catalyst component and a catalyst system for the ⁇ -olefin polymerization, preferably in a solution process, more preferably a high temperature solution process, which give substantially higher activities in, for example, ethylene or ⁇ -olefin homopolymerization and ethylene- ⁇ -olefin copolymerization processes, compared with prior art ketimide catalyst components, associated with reasonable higher thermal stability. Moreover, they show a low sensitivity for scavengers.
• the invention relates in a first aspect to a catalyst component for the polymerization of an ⁇ -olefin comprising a compound of formula CyLMZ p , wherein
• hydrocarbyl is herein meant to comprise aliphatic and aromatic groups, such as for example phenyl, benzyl, etc.
• Said ligand L is thus a monohapto bonded 1,3-diaza-2-imino heterocyclic ligand.
• the group 4-6 metal M is, preferably, a group 4 metal, such as Ti, Zr or Hf. When M is a group 4 metal, p is 1 or 2.
• Suitable examples of metals from group 5 and group 6 of the Periodic Table are V, Nb, Ta and Cr, Mo, W, respectively, in which cases p is 1, 2 or 3, depending upon group Z and the valency of M.
• Cy is expediently a cyclopentadienyl, indenyl or fluorenyl ring, which is substituted or not with one to five (cyclopentadienyl), one to seven (indenyl) or one to nine (fluorenyl) substituent R groups, each substituent group R having the above-mentioned meanings.
• alkylidene or arylene residues Z are as follows:
• the present catalyst components when used in ⁇ -olefin polymerization processes, yield a polymer having consistently high molecular weight averages, even at high polymerization temperatures (up to 150° C.), and narrow molecular weight distributions, as appears from the polydispersity values given in the Examples.
• the use of the present catalyst components yields ethylene- ⁇ -olefin copolymers having high comonomer contents, i.e. up to 50% by weight ⁇ -olefin comonomer content.
• the present catalyst component is in a preferred embodiment supported on a carrier.
• This carrier consists expediently either of a metal halide or oxide, which metal oxide can be selected from the group consisting of alumina, boria, magnesia, thoria, zirconia, silica, or mixtures thereof, or it consists of a polymeric material.
• the preferred carrier material is silica.
• the invention relates in a further aspect to a catalyst system comprising the combination of a catalyst component according to the invention with at least one catalyst activator.
• Said activator is preferably a Lewis acid; a Brönsted acid or a salt, comprising a cation capable of donating a proton, associated with a substantially non-coordinating anion; a trialkylaluminium; an alkylalumoxane or a combination thereof.
• said activator is B(C 6 F 5 ) 3 or a B(C 6 F 5 ) 4 compound or methylalumoxane, known in the art as BF 15 , BF 20 or MAO, respectively.
• non-coordinating anion as used herein is meant to indicate activators, which do not, or only weakly, coordinate to the cationic form of the present catalyst component.
• the present catalyst system is preferably used in a solution process for the (co-)polymerization of one or more ( ⁇ -olefins having 2 to 8 carbon atoms at a temperature in the range from 30 to 250° C. and at a pressure in the range from 0.1 to 30 MPa.
• Said (co-)-polymerization process can nevertheless also be carried out in a slurry process, or in the gas phase and at a temperature from 50-150° C.
• the temperature used in the polymerization process is preferably at least 80° C. As appears from the following Examples, a high productivity can be obtained, even at high temperatures.
• a scavenger can also be used.
• a scavenger is in the art normally used to scavenge impurities from the polymerization medium.
• the invention also relates to a process, as indicated above, for the copolymerization of at least one ⁇ -olefin and at least one alkadiene.
• alkadienes are isoprene, 1,5-hexadiene, 1,7-octadiene, 4-vinyl-1-cyclohexene, 1,2,4-trivinylcyclohexane, 5-vinyl-2-norbornene, divinylbenzene, etc.
• butadienes instead of butadienes also the use of two equivalents of an olefin or an alkyne is possible.
• DMAO was generated by removing all volatiles from MAO (5 wt % Al, Akzo Nobel).
• NMR spectra were recorded on Varian Gemini 200 and 300 spectrometers. The 1 H NMR spectra were referenced to resonances of the residual protons in the deuterated solvents. Chemical shifts ( ⁇ ) are given relative to tetramethylsilane.
• Gel permeation chromatography (GPC) analysis was carried out on a Polymer Laboratories Ltd. (PL-GPC210) chromatograph using 1,2,4-trichlorobenzene as the mobile phase at 135° C. The samples were prepared by dissolving the polymer in the mobile phase solvent in an external oven at 0.1% (weight/volume) and were run without filtration. For determining of comonomer contents in the ethene- ⁇ -olefin copolymers 13 C NMR spectroscopy was used.
• Di-iso-butylalumoxane was generated in situ by treating TIBA with a 1 ⁇ 2 equivalent of H 2 O in toluene.
• the lithiated ligand [1,3-(2,6-Me 2 C 6 H 3 ) 2 C 2 H 4 N 2 C ⁇ N]Li was generated in situ as follows: BuLi (4 ml of a 2.5M solution in hexane, Acros) was slowly added to 1,3-(2,6-Me 2 C 6 H 3 ) 2 C 2 H 4 N 2 C ⁇ NH (3.00 g, 10 mmol) in THF (50 ml) at ⁇ 80° C. and warmed to room temperature. The obtained product was used as such in the following step.
• di-Grignard reagent instead of a di-Grignard reagent also magnesacarbocycles and di-lithium, di-sodium, di-potassium or di-zinc halido reagents can be used.
• magnesacarbocycles or di-Grignard reagents see: Wakefield, B. J. Organomagnesium Methods in Organic Synthesis , Academic Press, London, 1995, and Goedhijt, M. S. PhD. Thesis, Vrije Universiteit, Amsterdam, 1996.
• magnesium instead of magnesium also sodium, sodium amalgam, zinc and other reducing agents can be used.
• Trimethylchlorsilane (29.1 g, 268 mmol) was slowly added to a solution of (1-methyl-cyclohexyl)cyclopentadienyllithium (43.34 g, 258 mmol) in THF (350 ml). After refluxing the mixture for 3,5 h, the solvent was removed in vacuo and the residue was distilled under reduced pressure to give (1-methylcyclohexyl)cyclopentadienyltrimethylsilane as yellow oil.
• TiCl 4 (9.18 g, 48 mmol) was added to a solution of Cp′SiMe 3 (11.25 g, 48 mmol) in toluene (150 ml), obtained as indicated in step a), at 0° C. After the addition was complete, the solution was warmed to room temperature and stirred for 2 d. The volatiles were removed in vacuo and the residue was recrystallized from toluene (40 ml), to give orange crystals, which were filtered off and dried in vacuo.
• the catalyst components A and B were prepared as indicated.
• the reactor was charged with 190 ml of purified toluene and stirred at 600 rpm. 10 ml of a 0.0011 molar toluene solution of B(C 6 F 5 ) 3 was added and the reactor was heated to reach the desired temperature. Ethylene was added to reach 0.5 MPa total pressure. Then 10 ml of a 0.001 molar toluene solution of the catalyst component was injected. Ethylene was continuously added to the reactor to maintain the pressure constant.
• the prior art catalyst components A or B can, in an ethylene polymerization process, only expediently be used at a temperature of at most about 80° C.
• a catalyst system according to the invention (comprising catalyst components II or IV) can, on the other hand, be used at a higher temperature, such as a temperature of 100° C. or 130° C., at which temperatures still a high productivity is obtained. This implies that the catalyst system is still stable at such high temperatures. It is observed that Example nr. 5 was only carried out for 5 minutes.
• the reactor was charged with 240 ml of purified toluene and stirred at 600 rpm. 10 ml of a 0.02 molar toluene solution of scavenger was added and the reactor was heated to reach the temperature of 80° C. Ethylene was added to reach 0.5 MPa total pressure. Then 10 ml of a 0.001 molar toluene solution of the catalyst component/activator (Ti/B(C 6 F 5 ) 3 ratio of 1:1.1) was injected. Ethylene was continuously added to the reactor to maintain the total pressure constant. Scavenger S1 consisted of i-Bu 3 Al, scavenger S2 consisted of (i-Bu 2 Al) 2 O.
• the reactor was charged with 190 ml of purified toluene and stirred at 600 rpm. 10 ml of a 0.0011 molar toluene solution of B(C 6 F 5 ) 3 was added and the reactor was heated to reach the desired temperature. Propylene was added to reach 0.3 MPa total pressure. Then 10 ml of a 0.001 molar toluene solution of the catalyst component was injected. Propylene was continuously added to the reactor to maintain the total pressure constant.
• the obtained productivity data clearly show the better catalytic activity of a catalyst system of the invention, compared with a prior art catalyst system.
• the narrow molecular weight distributions to be obtained when using a catalyst system of the invention are shown.
• the polymerizations were conducted in a 500 ml (1000 ml with scavenger) autoclave reactor at a temperature of 80° C. in the batch mode. The following procedure was used:
• the reactor was charged with 210 ml (240 ml) of purified toluene and stirred at 600 rpm. 20 ml of the desired ⁇ -olefin and 10 ml of a 0.02 molar toluene solution of scavenger (1000 ml autoclave) were added and reactor was heated to reach the temperature of 80° C. Ethylene was added to reach 0.5 MPa total pressure. Then 10 ml of a 0.001 molar toluene solution of the catalyst component/activator (Ti/B(C 6 F 5 ) 3 ratio of 1/1.1) was injected. Ethylene was continuously added to the reactor to maintain the total pressure constant.
• the polymerizations were conducted in a 3000 ml autoclave reactor at a temperature of 130° C. in the batch mode. The following procedure was used:
• the reactor was charged with 263 ml of 1-octene and Isopar was added to reach 1500 ml of total volume.
• the reactor was heated to reach the temperature of 130° C. and the desired amount of hydrogen was added.
• Ethylene was added to reach 3.0 MPa total pressure.
• V/activator Ti/B(C 6 F 5 ) 3 ratio of 1:1.2
• the polymerizations were conducted in a 1000 ml autoclave reactor at a temperature of 100° C. in the batch mode. The following procedure was used:
• the reactor was charged with 240 ml of purified toluene and stirred at 600 rpm.
• the desired amount of activator in 10 ml of toluene was added and the reactor was heated to reach the temperature of 100° C.
• Ethylene was added to reach 0.5 MPa total pressure.
• the desired amount of catalyst component nr. VI in 10 ml of toluene was injected. Ethylene was continuously added to the reactor to maintain the pressure constant.

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• 2002
  • 2002-03-05 JP JP2002570606A patent/JP4197949B2/ja not_active Expired - Lifetime
  • 2002-03-05 DE DE60201340T patent/DE60201340T2/de not_active Expired - Fee Related
  • 2002-03-05 CA CA002439892A patent/CA2439892A1/en not_active Abandoned
  • 2002-03-05 ES ES02702966T patent/ES2224049T3/es not_active Expired - Lifetime
  • 2002-03-05 AT AT02702966T patent/ATE277092T1/de not_active IP Right Cessation
  • 2002-03-05 EP EP02702966A patent/EP1373332B1/en not_active Expired - Lifetime
  • 2002-03-05 CN CN02805951.4A patent/CN1208357C/zh not_active Expired - Fee Related
  • 2002-03-05 US US10/469,832 patent/US6858558B2/en not_active Expired - Fee Related
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